Is the new airport a joke?

I arrived today back in Thailand for the first time in two years. I thought the new airport was supposed to be state of the art. I guess it's no worse overall than Don Muang but that's not the point. Chipped tiles, badly concreted walls (my Dad's in construction so I do notice these things) and shops from here to buggery. I got through Immigration OK, picked up my bag (I was nervous about even getting it, from stories I'd heard). The I went outside to try to find the guy who was meeting me. What a mess. They're already rebuilding or repairing something, there was scaffolding and the usual army of do-nothing Thai workers. A tiny little meeting area. The usual touts everywhere. Not something on which to build a successful tourist industry.

Not something on which to build a successful tourist industry.

In case you haven't noticed, m'dear, most of Thailand's tourists are utter failures. Just be grateful that you're not alone.

I actually went through 2 days ago and thought it was just fine.

Huge with a need for more signage but not hot at all and a very pleasant experience. Much better than anything the UK can offer.

I think most people just like familiar things and once they find where everthing is they will come to love it. Smoking rooms are on 2nd floor!

Much better than anything the UK can offerThat's hardly the point - the UK doesn't have a new international airport opened just this year

Have only arrived. Perhaps departing will be nicer. I found it sterile. Doesn't compare with Changi or the KL airport.

For those that haven`t been i snapped a few quick pics on the way through. sorry for the quality - david bailey i aint!

http://www.gaytingtong.com/pattaya/airport.jpg

http://www.gaytingtong.com/pattaya/airport2.jpg

http://www.gaytingtong.com/pattaya/airport3.jpg

http://www.gaytingtong.com/pattaya/airport4.jpg

http://www.gaytingtong.com/pattaya/airport5.jpg

http://www.gaytingtong.com/pattaya/airport6.jpg

if you like exploring you will love it - 4 floors you can access if leaving or seeing somebody off - easiest thing to find is Muslim prayer room - signs for that everywhere!

[TrongpaiExpat]

I flew out on a domestic flight today and found the airport just fine. I liked the carry-on baggage screening at the gate, no bottle necks, no wait. We went up to the top floor above counters H for some decent food, better than what most airports offer. It's called the casual cafe.

The floors did seems to have rubber marks, from the luggage carts?
I found a lot of bathrooms but many are just 2 and 3 hole-ers.

AC was fine. Signs are not very prominent but I think that's part of the design. It's a BIG space.

The only real problem I had was finding a taxi in central BKK that wanted to make the trip. First two just passed, the next wanted 400B and then one wanted a "the new airport surcharge of 40B". The fare came to 185B, 60B tolls and I gave him his 40B.

It looks like you can catch a taxi on the departure floor if your quick. I noticed taxis lingering there as long as they can before being waived on. That might avoid the bottle neck downstairs and a wait.

[Boxer]

Some information hints tips and pictures with maps galore here on Boxers Airport Guide.
www.boxertravels.net/airport/index.htm (http://www.boxertravels.net/airport/index.htm)

[allieb]

The Airport is just fine please stop whining about it. You can see from Ooglemans pics that its very nice.

The short time I spent in it last month on the way in and out was just fine For goodness sake you complainers, do you go to Thailand to spend your time wandering around an airport nit picking or do you go to have a good time? I wouldn't care if I landed on a grass strip near Jomtian beach and got my bags from the back of a truck just as long as I havd arrived in Thailand.

So much wasted energy has been put into this subject please enjoy Thailand and shut the fuck up about the airport being bad. Let this be the end of it.

[bkkguy]

So much wasted energy has been put into this subject please enjoy Thailand and shut the fuck up about the airport being bad.

and how much public money has been wasted on this fuck up we are supposed to shut the fuck up about?

bkkguy

[allieb]

There's nothing wrong with the Airport. As for public money being wasted, its wasted on every government project in every country in the world. Whats new about that?

[globalwanderer]

flew out a week ago, Thai Business class to less stress?!?

Computer down at checkin

however finding way to lounge was easy. Pity that a month after opening they still had not cleaned the glass after installation.

Poor signage to departure gate. Departure gate has seats for approx 180 for a 747 flight, and little standing room./ Luckily flight was half empty.

the only good thing I saw about the new airport is that it's only 90 minutes from pattaya

During my visit to Thailand Oct/Nov, I had occasion to go through international arrival/departure once and domestic 2 times (6 visits in all to or from the airport). Could not have been easier everytime. With regard to international arrivals, immigration was a breeze and luggage came quickly. Domestic arrivals also very easy. Departure check in was easy and took little time. If I have any complaint with the airport at all it is the architecture and that mainly concerns the fact that due to the rounded tunnel design of the airport they will never keep the glass clean in the place. Between the soot from the jet engines deposited on the glass and the rain, it will be a constant battle to keep it all clean. As with many projects, architects think of design over long term maintenance. There definitely could be more signs. Seems to me main concourse is so filled with shops I don't see how they will all stay in business but time will tell, and then I am not prone to shopping in airports. Overall my experience was good. As has been stated by others, my biggest criticism is the arrival hall outside baggage claim. Just too small and too many people to get the carts through the area and downstairs to the taxis. Can't figure who in the hell decided those revolving doors were the way to go at a busy airport. But overall it works and that is the important thing to remember.

[Liamog]

[quote="Curious"] .......and shops from here to buggery.

Sounds okay to me. :cheers:

[TrongpaiExpat]

I came back on a domestic flight yesterday. Yes, it was a long way to luggage, but there are moving sidewalks. Yes, I noticed some cracks in the floor, but not like the average crack in a sidewalk anywhere in Thailand, some of which you can fall into. Luggage came out fast. There is a board, not very big, if your near-sighted just stand closer.

Taxis are on the ground floor, one floor down from luggage. There are some makeshift signs showing the way. I guess since they gave up on the idea of the bus to the transportation center(?) these taxi stands were a last minute addition. There are many stands at most every exit now and they load on two lanes. Not a bottle neck. The wait was 5 min.

Over all I have to say that going and coming at this airport was a nice experience.

[neddy3]

It's different; certainly a move outside the comfort zone for those regular users of Don Muang.

I've done one international arrival and one international departure. Generally went fine.

The place is huge, just huge.
All concrete, stainless steel, and glass which is not clean. Feels a bit industrial, maybe some softer touches to come, but probably not.
Air-con seemed fine to me.
Some stains and cracks about eg the floors. Will these be fixed??

On arrival, temporary signs to find the taxis, but knowing they're one level down, easy enough.

On departure, it certainly pays to know which numbered entrance to arrive at in the taxi.
Check in area was a bit conjested.
No cafes etc on the outside of immigration. Expensive ones inside.
Shops galore inside, all look expensive. Then again, airports are not the best places to go shopping, unless you're loaded.

After a few visits, it will all be familiar and be fine.

No cafes etc on the outside of immigration.

There are lots and lots of cafes, restaurants, etc. before immigration. Did you bother to look?

[Hmmm]

Best landside eating seems to be the Thai food court, downstairs on taxi level, at the far end of the building. That's where all the Thai staff eat. Good English signage (despite absence of farangs), cheap. Nicer but busier than the Thai food court at Don Muang (the hidden location of which very few people ever found anyway).

[TrongpaiExpat]

Check in area was a bit conjested.

The problem is those ticket sales counters that are between the check-in lanes and the entry. They are not a design of the airport. They are free standing counters someone just rolled in and someone should just roll them out.

Well, I am posting this from the TG business lounge, where I am currently ensconced and happy as a clam. Got here from the Sukhumvit area -- Friday night no less -- in half hour flat. Was checked in and through immigration in less than ten minutes, and with plenty of time left to enjoy this beautiful place.

[Boxer]

Just to make it clear and I agree with him, the one Hmmm is refering to is on level 1 (ground Floor) as he says by Taxis. The other
Food Court and shops are on level 3.

the only 2 faults i found on departing were lack of good aircon, and not enough seats at the gate

I think its much better that don muang.

Agreed. Don Muang was a pit. Good riddance.

[bao-bao]

On arriving at Suvarnabhumi my first time a week after it opened I was a little concerned by some of the doom-and-gloom thatтАЩd been posted here by many, coupled with the occasional discomfort of dealing with the Great Unknowns of travel. Sometimes itтАЩs an enjoyable part of the overall adventure, but after a long and difficult flight, a long layover and that last leg thatтАЩd be too long even if it were only an hour I wasnтАЩt in the mood for any greater adventure than checking into the hotel, showering, and flopping onto the bed.

The place is enormous. It seemed huge even after reading about it here and elsewhere, and even after seeing the promo films about it online. The high ceilings and exposed supports seemed a bit industrial, but then so does the new terminal in Taipei (below)

http://upload4.postimage.org/1624070/PA040012a.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1624070/photo_hosting.html)

It was a nice surprise to find enough passport windows open to only keep four or five people waiting in each line, and to see my luggage coming around on the carousel not 50 feet away as I stepped up to the counter to get my passport stamped shortly before noon.

ItтАЩs always felt like I was having my pocket picked to pay $3US for a luggage cart at SFO so the free ones at Don Muang were always appreciated. It was good to see theyтАЩve kept that welcoming custom alive at Suvarnabhumi.

There were signs showing the way to taxis (down one floor from baggage claim) and there was only one couple ahead of me at thr curb waiting for a ride into downtown Bangkok. My fare to the Ratchatewi area was Bt307 plus toll and IтАЩm not at all sure my driver took the best (read fastest) route overall, but again - I was tired and less than my usual enthusiastic self on the ride. ItтАЩs surprising, however, how even a bad mood can be improved by just being back in the Land of Smiles!

I canтАЩt speak for any of you, of course, but on the trip back home itтАЩs just the opposite for me. IтАЩm unhappy about leaving, sad to say goodbye to my friends again, not looking forward to the long last flight back to California and just a little тАЬblueтАЭ about the experience being finished overall.

None of that was helped by big, bright bustling Suvarnabhumi. The ground floor was cool enough, so the wait at the EVA counter line wasnтАЩt anything more than long and boring. My friend and I were both ready to sit and snack a bit by the time I was checked in for the flight, so we went upstairs to the stylish caf├й area, where you select your food from the items displayed at the entrance and then picka table to wait until itтАЩs brought to you from the kitchen.

From our table I could see the EVA gates down at the end of one of the side тАЬarmsтАЭ (near the red dot in this picture) and some workers (next to the green dots) still working on some of the tarps and canopy outside the window. One of them walked a ways away from the others for something and was obviously enjoying bouncing along on it as if he were walking across a trampoline. I guess the Thai can find sanuk in most anything!

http://upload4.postimage.org/1624116/PA260322a.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1624116/photo_hosting.html)

The long walk upstairs past the extended shopping area and out the long тАЬarmтАЭ of the airport to the gate area seemed like quite a ways, even with moving walkways. The aircon wasnтАЩt all that effective, eitherтАж at least on that day, late in the afternoon. I left from Gate 4, next to last and at the far end of this picture:

http://upload4.postimage.org/1624126/PA260327a.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/1624126/photo_hosting.html)

Even after getting out near your gate you still have to wait for them to open the entryway to the switchbacked ramp down to the boarding area where you again show your boarding pass and then wait again to board the plane itself. This may be because I was there a little more than 30 minutes before take-off, a glitch with the EVA staff, or both.

Did I like the airport? Yes. Is it an improvement overall over Don Muang? Yes. Allow extra time arriving and departing, remember to take your тАЬmai pen raiтАЭ attitude along with you and тАУ if youтАЩre arriving тАУ smile! YouтАЩre in Thailand!!

Great post Bao Bao.

I guess waiting time depends on luck and airline involved.

With Thai it was all very quick.

One thing my Thai companion and I both found highly amusing on Saturday evening - if you look up into the ceiling you will see cobwebs everywhere

...if you look up into the ceiling you will see cobwebs everywhere
Complements the filthy windows splendidly, I think!